THE PREMISE Dueling moles -- a Mobster in the Boston police department (Matt Damon), and a cop in a Boston crime syndicate (Leonardo DiCaprio) -- try to ferret each other out.

SOURCE The Hong Kong hit Infernal Affairs (2002)

THE BACKSTORY After Gangs of New York and The Aviator, Scorsese and DiCaprio have become such a team that Warner Bros. pitched them both the project at the same time. ''We both loved it and said, 'Let's do this,''' DiCaprio says.

BURNING QUESTION Is the material too pulpy to earn Scorsese his long-awaited Oscar?

COME FOR Jack Nicholson, as an unpredictable Mob boss

STAY FOR Vera Farmiga, as a police shrink who romances both Damon and DiCaprio